Judge rejects state Senate map produced by Legislature, sides with plaintiffs in landmark ruling

In another stinging rebuke to state lawmakers that could shift the partisan balance of Florida politics, a judge sided with a coalition of voting rights groups and endorsed one of their proposed state Senate redistricting maps over a map submitted by the Senate.

Circuit Judge George Reynolds wrote that the Senate’s proposed map was drawn “to favor the Republican Party and incumbents” and also said the map he selected has more compact districts.

The decision continues a string of big, precedent-setting victories for the coalition of groups — led by the Florida League of Women voters — that is seeking to enforce a 2010 anti-gerrymandering amendment to Florida’s constitution.

“This is another great result for our clients, but also a great result for every voter in the state of Florida,” said David King, the attorney for the plaintiffs.

If approved by the Florida Supreme Court, the practical impact of the new Senate map will be to increase the number of districts that favor Democrats.

There are currently 14 Democrats in the Senate and 26 Republicans, but President Barack Obama would have carried 21 of the 40 Senate seats in 2012 under the new map, compared with 17 in the existing map.

The partisan balance of the new map more closely reflects a perennial swing state that has more registered Democrats than Republicans, King said.

Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice listens to Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton explain how the redistricting is to be handled during the special session, Monday, Aug. 10, 2015, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon)

The map also keeps Sarasota County in one Senate district, along with the homes of all three of the GOP candidates seeking to replace Sen. Nancy Detert, who is leaving the Senate to run for the Sarasota County Commission. The Senate’s proposed map drew the homes of former Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson and Sarasota state Rep. Greg Steube out of Detert’s district, which would have forced them out of the race.

“I’m delighted,” Patterson said. “It gives me the opportunity to run in basically the district Sarasota has had all along. But more importantly I’m delighted to see the Sarasota Senate district keep Sarasota whole.”

Judge claims partisanship

Reynolds faulted how the Senate’s proposed map was selected and the fact that was more heavily weighted towards Republicans and protecting incumbents than other maps.

The Legislature failed to pass a Senate redistricting plan during a special session in November. The map submitted to the court was selected by Bradenton Republican Sen. Bill Galvano, who led the redistricting effort. It combined multiple maps created during the process.

The plaintiffs argued in court — and Reynolds noted in his ruling — that Galvano is in charge of reelection efforts for Senate Republicans and is in line to be Senate president. As such, he has an incentive to select a map that is favorable to Republicans and his future majority.

The fact that Galvano selected the map on his own without input from other lawmakers or staff was a red flag for Reynolds.

The judge also noted that Galvano’s map “performs better for Republicans and better protects incumbents” than any of the six so-called “base maps” the Legislature created to use as starting points for redrawing the Senate districts.

Reynolds said the map he selected out of four proposed by the plaintiffs “is the most compact plan proposed by any party.”

The 2010 Fair Districts amendment approved by voters requires compact political districts that follow existing geographic and political boundaries and are not drawn to favor a political party or incumbent.

Voting rights groups have been battling in court for years to get new state Senate and congressional maps, arguing the Legislature did not follow the constitutional amendments when it redrew the districts after the 2010 Census.

The groups won a big victory in the congressional case over the summer, with the Florida Supreme Court ruling the congressional map was drawn to favor Republicans and must be redone. The Legislature subsequently admitted guilt in the state Senate case and agreed to redraw those districts as well.

The Legislature failed to agree on either a congressional or state Senate map during two separate special sessions. A judge sided with the plaintiffs in the congressional case and selected their map over maps submitted by the House and Senate. That map already has been ratified by the Supreme Court, which will review Reynold’s ruling in the state Senate case sometime early this year.

Combined, the two cases are expected to guide how Florida handles redistricting for years to come.

Last modified: December 30, 2015
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